Well written. But I have come to learn much more about the pre post-WW2 USA system, their wrong that all these things already set in by then. While some ground work wss laid during the so called Progressive Era, throughout it and even throughout the 1930s, the USA remained a highly decentralized system politically, economically, governmentally, and scientifically. Despite inroads made into deeper centralization, especially during the New Deal, the USA’s private sector remained by far the primary economic planner and it remained a private sector that was diffused, decentralized, deliberately redundant, heterogenous, mostly not-coordinated and primarily governed by competitive market structures. And the country's political structure was still anchored in strong local and state institutions. Local party branches, particularly within the Democratic party, remained mass-member organizations that were publicly accessible and still functioned as primary vehicles for political participation. State and municipal governments retained significant autonomy over economic and regulatory affairs, with many relief and infrastructure programs administered at these levels rather than dictated solely from Washington. Scientific and industrial research was likewise decentralized, with regional research hubs, independent professional schools, and state universities and state non university colleges (who I never knew about and appear to have been generally wonderful) maintaining substantial control over development rather than being fully absorbed into federal bureaucracies. While the role of the federal government expanded, political mobilization at intermediary levels—states, cities, and local party organizations, remained super important, and the shift away from local political power toward an increasingly nationalized system was far from complete. And importantly (and I never knew this either!) it wasnt until the Neoliberal Era that Jacksonians (some of it was from even earlier, thats how radical the advent of the Neoliberal Era was) banking/finance and monetary architecture really go disabled, which centralized banking and finance and enable the very deep centralization of the country which almost guaranteed the destruction of so much of real civil society
This is a silly note! The reason the leaders in congress are pissed off at the “base” demanding “action” is
(1) Congress and Senate members who actually, you know, get VOTED have a better feel for the pulse of the people than the “professional political activist”
(2) they know a lot of what Trump 2.0 is doing is popular with their electorate
(3) They know they can’t do much
And when they do shit like rally in support of USAID, it just rings hollow to the voters
The real problem is wacko activists like that staffer who resigned when Seth Moulton dared to say what was on EVERYONE’s mind
Hanlon's Razor applies. People don't realize they are being manipulated into a froth of anger by Trump. His special skill is making people that oppose him lose their moorings and get angry, becoming weak political opponents in the process. The press gets sucked into it at the same time since they oppose him, by and large. Their viewership is perceived to be such people also. Sacrificing power and credibility is the result.
Does anyone think that an insane appearing leftist convinced anyone of anything? Well, except for them in the echo chamber _HE_ more or less put them in.
Staying sane, credible and formidable is the correct response. Leadership is _finally_ figuring this out after 9 years of this. The South Park guys understood the fundamental strategy in 2016.
This is a fantastic article. For anyone trying to understand MAGA/America First movements— this is it. MAGA started within the party. It’s gained Democrats for the reasons w/in this article. Hate Trump all you want but the main thread in this new coalition is fighting against the establishment and taking our parties back…until you understand this you can’t counter act against it effectively. It explains why identity politics missed the mark as well.
A laundry list of things for Democrats to keep and to dump if they ever want to win again nationwide.
Keep a woman’s right to choose for the first trimester. Dump abortion until birth unless the mother’s health is at risk.
Keep a concern for climate change and grow nuclear power. Dump intermittent, unreliable renewable energy.
Keep and develop new effective vaccines. Dump vaccine mandates.
Keep equality of opportunity for all. Dump equity of results based on discriminating against men, whites and Asians (aka D.E.I.). Recognize that D.E.I. Is unconstitutional.
Keep the protection of gay and lesbian rights. Dump men in women’s sports, private spaces and prisons. Oh, and mutilating children who might grow up to be gay.
Keep an opportunity for selective high value immigration. Dump sanctuary cities and open borders.
Keep helping the homeless find jobs and a place to live. Dump camping in cities and allowing open drug use.
Keep a concern for due process in criminal justice. Dump letting shoplifters and other petty thieves off the hook.
Do all of the above and they might find their way back to power.
Nice piece. I’ve also been frustrated with the Democrats. It’s been driving me crazy watching them put so much fundraising and campaigning into “Trump is a fascist” and then turn around after they lose and claim there’s nothing they can do. At the end of the day, you can’t have it both ways. It comes off as disingenuous. I just posted about how the Democrats need to prioritize rebuilding trust in the government and engagement with the political system throughout the year, not just on election day.
This is good. It’s a restatement of John Dewey’s question for a ‘public citizen’ engage in a politics of ‘mass participation,’ in his debate with Lippamann arguing for a politics where the voter is best seen simply as ‘consumer.’ It also worker with Marta Harnecker’s ‘protagonism’ as a collective politics from the base. Ignore the naysaying from the top or elsewhere. Get to work implementing these ideas.
It’s more than out of touch bureaucracy and party activists, it’s the educated “elite” who are essentially part of the liberal industrial complex (LIC) telling the rest of us how to vote and what the agenda is. These are the establishment voices that set the agenda and organize the base to just give money and shut the hell up.
Working class issues are relegated to the rhetorical back burners because there is no organizing effort to support a progressive populist economic agenda outside of Bernie Sanders. In fact being left or progressive in the LIC world now means supporting cultural equity programs like DEI or transgender issues.
This tact is like rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic while alienating conservative working class voters. This is not organizing to win elections.
Well written. But I have come to learn much more about the pre post-WW2 USA system, their wrong that all these things already set in by then. While some ground work wss laid during the so called Progressive Era, throughout it and even throughout the 1930s, the USA remained a highly decentralized system politically, economically, governmentally, and scientifically. Despite inroads made into deeper centralization, especially during the New Deal, the USA’s private sector remained by far the primary economic planner and it remained a private sector that was diffused, decentralized, deliberately redundant, heterogenous, mostly not-coordinated and primarily governed by competitive market structures. And the country's political structure was still anchored in strong local and state institutions. Local party branches, particularly within the Democratic party, remained mass-member organizations that were publicly accessible and still functioned as primary vehicles for political participation. State and municipal governments retained significant autonomy over economic and regulatory affairs, with many relief and infrastructure programs administered at these levels rather than dictated solely from Washington. Scientific and industrial research was likewise decentralized, with regional research hubs, independent professional schools, and state universities and state non university colleges (who I never knew about and appear to have been generally wonderful) maintaining substantial control over development rather than being fully absorbed into federal bureaucracies. While the role of the federal government expanded, political mobilization at intermediary levels—states, cities, and local party organizations, remained super important, and the shift away from local political power toward an increasingly nationalized system was far from complete. And importantly (and I never knew this either!) it wasnt until the Neoliberal Era that Jacksonians (some of it was from even earlier, thats how radical the advent of the Neoliberal Era was) banking/finance and monetary architecture really go disabled, which centralized banking and finance and enable the very deep centralization of the country which almost guaranteed the destruction of so much of real civil society
This is a silly note! The reason the leaders in congress are pissed off at the “base” demanding “action” is
(1) Congress and Senate members who actually, you know, get VOTED have a better feel for the pulse of the people than the “professional political activist”
(2) they know a lot of what Trump 2.0 is doing is popular with their electorate
(3) They know they can’t do much
And when they do shit like rally in support of USAID, it just rings hollow to the voters
The real problem is wacko activists like that staffer who resigned when Seth Moulton dared to say what was on EVERYONE’s mind
Hanlon's Razor applies. People don't realize they are being manipulated into a froth of anger by Trump. His special skill is making people that oppose him lose their moorings and get angry, becoming weak political opponents in the process. The press gets sucked into it at the same time since they oppose him, by and large. Their viewership is perceived to be such people also. Sacrificing power and credibility is the result.
Does anyone think that an insane appearing leftist convinced anyone of anything? Well, except for them in the echo chamber _HE_ more or less put them in.
Staying sane, credible and formidable is the correct response. Leadership is _finally_ figuring this out after 9 years of this. The South Park guys understood the fundamental strategy in 2016.
This is a fantastic article. For anyone trying to understand MAGA/America First movements— this is it. MAGA started within the party. It’s gained Democrats for the reasons w/in this article. Hate Trump all you want but the main thread in this new coalition is fighting against the establishment and taking our parties back…until you understand this you can’t counter act against it effectively. It explains why identity politics missed the mark as well.
A laundry list of things for Democrats to keep and to dump if they ever want to win again nationwide.
Keep a woman’s right to choose for the first trimester. Dump abortion until birth unless the mother’s health is at risk.
Keep a concern for climate change and grow nuclear power. Dump intermittent, unreliable renewable energy.
Keep and develop new effective vaccines. Dump vaccine mandates.
Keep equality of opportunity for all. Dump equity of results based on discriminating against men, whites and Asians (aka D.E.I.). Recognize that D.E.I. Is unconstitutional.
Keep the protection of gay and lesbian rights. Dump men in women’s sports, private spaces and prisons. Oh, and mutilating children who might grow up to be gay.
Keep an opportunity for selective high value immigration. Dump sanctuary cities and open borders.
Keep helping the homeless find jobs and a place to live. Dump camping in cities and allowing open drug use.
Keep a concern for due process in criminal justice. Dump letting shoplifters and other petty thieves off the hook.
Do all of the above and they might find their way back to power.
That hits the nail on the head. Return to common sense America.
Nice piece. I’ve also been frustrated with the Democrats. It’s been driving me crazy watching them put so much fundraising and campaigning into “Trump is a fascist” and then turn around after they lose and claim there’s nothing they can do. At the end of the day, you can’t have it both ways. It comes off as disingenuous. I just posted about how the Democrats need to prioritize rebuilding trust in the government and engagement with the political system throughout the year, not just on election day.
This is good. It’s a restatement of John Dewey’s question for a ‘public citizen’ engage in a politics of ‘mass participation,’ in his debate with Lippamann arguing for a politics where the voter is best seen simply as ‘consumer.’ It also worker with Marta Harnecker’s ‘protagonism’ as a collective politics from the base. Ignore the naysaying from the top or elsewhere. Get to work implementing these ideas.
It’s more than out of touch bureaucracy and party activists, it’s the educated “elite” who are essentially part of the liberal industrial complex (LIC) telling the rest of us how to vote and what the agenda is. These are the establishment voices that set the agenda and organize the base to just give money and shut the hell up.
Working class issues are relegated to the rhetorical back burners because there is no organizing effort to support a progressive populist economic agenda outside of Bernie Sanders. In fact being left or progressive in the LIC world now means supporting cultural equity programs like DEI or transgender issues.
This tact is like rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic while alienating conservative working class voters. This is not organizing to win elections.
They lost it at least 25 years ago
How is the erosion of civic society the Democrats's fault?
When individuals make no difference bc elections and agendas are for the bureaucracy or donors - over time people understand this and give up.